In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, Muhammad, and upon his pure Progeny, particularly the Remnant of God on earth (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).
I would like to welcome all of you here, Mr. President, gentlemen, and our honorable brothers and sisters. I benefitted from your reports. I wouldn’t have minded if others had given more reports, but since you mentioned [the gentlemen here have requested], I will share a few words with you.
Government Week is, in fact, a link connecting one chapter of the government's life to another chapter. So during this week, you are looking at the year that has passed while also looking at the year ahead. You can make comparisons, you can gain experience, and you can learn lessons from these.
This week is adorned with the names of two noble martyrs: Martyr Rajai and Martyr Bahonar. There is a point to note here — what image is in our minds of these two martyrs that we would like our ministers, officials, and senior managers to strive toward? What is that image? We did not have the opportunity to see the output of their work. Martyr Rajai was president for about a month and Martyr Bahonar was prime minister during that same period. Martyr Rajai had also [previously] been prime minister for several months and had faced a difficult situation at that time. Therefore, we are not concerned with the output of these two honorable men, and we do not have any signs or traces of their work.
What is it that we are concerned with then? Why do we speak about these two individuals? The point is their intention, is their orientation. The orientation of these two dear martyrs was toward God and the Revolution. Those who knew these two up-close can verify my words that these two men were pursuing something that all martyrs and all those who fight for the cause of God are pursuing. This is what they were seeking.
In other words, their lives were in line with their destiny. They sought God’s satisfaction, just like all our martyrs did and all those who struggle sincerely for the cause of God. Their goal is seeking God’s satisfaction and serving the people, which also brings God’s satisfaction — Almighty God wants us to serve the people.
So this is important. The code words for all our administrations should be: seeking God’s satisfaction and working to serve the people. Our goal should be summed up in these two things. If God's satisfaction becomes our goal, it will affect all of our activities, actions, and way of working. When you are at home thinking about the work that has been assigned to you, or you have a heavy workload from the ministry and you have no choice but to take it home and work on it at home, no one realizes this, no one praises you for it, and no one knows about it, but you do it anyway. Why? You do it seeking God’s satisfaction. This is the right thing to do. This affects our work. This affects the appointments we make.
There is a sentence in Sahifah Sajjadiyah regarding God’s satisfaction. Imam Sajjad (pbuh) asks Almighty God: “[Bless me that] I may prefer Your satisfaction over everything else, both in the case of friends and enemies.” If a person is like this, “… then my enemy will be safe from any wrongdoing and injustice from me, and my friend will despair of me being inclined to [falsely] favor him and from misplaced kindness from me” [supplication 22]. This is very important. If my goal is God’s satisfaction, my enemy will know with certainty that I will not oppress him. He is my enemy, but he is sure that I will not act unjustly toward him. My friend will also be certain that I will not favor him over others because of our friendship.
We will be like this in the appointments we make. If we keep God's satisfaction in mind, we will be careful to employ the person who is suitable for the position, not someone who is merely our friend and not deserving of the role. This is one of the characteristics of seeking God’s satisfaction.
That’s how the late Martyr Rajai and the late Martyr Bahonar were. Their goal was truly gaining God's satisfaction. I knew them personally for many years and witnessed their conduct. Government Week is adorned with their names. This became the guiding principle and figuratively the flag on which the name of this administration is written. You need to keep this in mind.
Regarding the issues that I will be discussing with you today, I have divided them into two parts. During the first part, I will briefly give you my opinion and judgement about the administration. In the second part, I want to remind you about a few matters that you need to pay attention to.
As for my judgement, well over the past 30 or so years, I have supported all the various administrations with different orientations and abilities and the reason for that is obvious. The situation of the country and the goals we have set for ourselves in the Islamic Republic require that everyone help the executive branch, which is working in the middle of the field. The Leader should help it, the people should help it, and our intellectuals and influential figures should help it. That’s how it is.
All of the administrations deserve this comprehensive support, and we have helped all administrations. However, considering what I have seen during these past two years regarding this administration, in addition to giving my support, I would also like to praise this administration. What we have seen from this administration’s performance during the two years that it has been in office warrants our appreciation and our praise. The administration has performed well and powerfully in some sectors, which are important sectors as well. I will briefly mention a few things about this.
The reason I am saying these is because the administration has unfortunately not been articulate in telling others about the things it has accomplished. Some good things have taken place that have not been conveyed to the people in the way it deserves to be. I would like to mention a few of these things so that the facts and realities of the administration will be clearer to the general public and to those who do not have a certain opinion or prejudice. I will speak about them in several sections.
In the economic sector, good things have been done by the administration, the details of which were explained to some extent by both the President and the Vice-President. What I would like to emphasize is that a significant number of macroeconomic indicators signal growth, progress, and positive changes. Of course, it will take some time before the effect of these macroeconomic issues will be seen in people's lives and livelihood.
Some administrations tend to sacrifice the future for the present. But that is not what this administration has done. It has done great, fundamental work, the effects of which will be seen later, even though they may not be fully apparent today. I will mention a few of these things, but there are also many other things in the report that I have been given — the report shows that there are close to 50 positive things that have taken place in the field of economy. I will share a few of these things with you.
Increased economic growth, especially in the industrial sector, is important. There has been increased growth in investments which is one of our most important economic issues. Our main problem in some previous periods was the issue of investments, which had a negative growth. It is called “negative growth” in common terminology when actually it is not growth, rather it is regression. There has been a reduction in the [excessive] growth of money supply, which was already mentioned. There has been a reduction in unemployment, a reduction in the Gini coefficient, a significant growth in the export of goods, and a strengthening of the tax system. The government's tax revenues have been able to provide a significant part of the government's current budget.
There has also been a significant growth in the production of petrochemical products. The issue of petrochemical products is one of the important issues in the country. Valuable measures have been taken in the fields of oil and gas, one of which was Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field which was recently inaugurated by the President. [Another important activity is] the reopening of closed or partially closed workshops. The number that has been mentioned is very large. Several thousand have been mentioned. Several thousand closed or partially closed factories have been reopened. This is very important. And important activities have also been undertaken in the field of water supply, irrigation and drainage networks in different places, which was mentioned in the gentlemen’s reports as well.
As I said, we have been informed about close to 50 activities like these. They are very important and valuable, but they are not being seen. First of all, this is unfortunately due to the fact that the administration is doing a poor job of informing others about its achievements. In other words, the basic task of informing others about this is not being done. Having someone come on television to tell people that these things have been done is not informing people. Communicating information is an art. A work of artistry is required in order to communicate this information correctly.
That is one matter. Another matter is that people are facing problems in their livelihood at the moment. Expenses are high, especially regarding some food items and high housing prices, and these are daily problems that people are facing. People see these things instead and so the important, valuable work that is being done in the economic sector is naturally going unnoticed. It becomes like a layer of dust that stands in the way of fundamental activities. You need to seriously, urgently think about this problem, God willing. So these were the things that have been accomplished in the economic sector.
In terms of management, many good things have been done in the administration. The value of this, in my opinion, is no less than our economic activities and progress. One of these good things is your presence among the people and your directly witnessing the problems that the people are facing. The way you go among the people, hear what they have to say, answer their questions, and allow them to tell you their problems are all very good. This is very useful.
This is useful in many ways. First, you get first-hand information, but it has other benefits as well. It allows you to have a close, humble, friendly relationship with the people. This is very important. We have no right to talk to people from a position of superiority or arrogance, because we are not anybody special and all that exists belongs to the people. If we have been given a position, a job, or a responsibility to fulfill, first of all, it has been given to us by the people and, secondly, it has been given to us to serve the people.
The simple lifestyle and the reduction of formalities in the personal and working behavior of the administration, especially with regard to the President himself, is impressive to me. This is something important and worthy of attention. The administration’s revolutionary mindset, the jihadi spirit that is shown in some of the activities that were mentioned in the gentlemen's report, and the recruitment of young people in various managerial positions are all very important matters. They are necessary and, thank God, we are witnessing these things in this administration. So some good work, which is gratifying and worthy of praise, has also been done in the managerial sector.
In the field of foreign policy, the government's dynamism in its foreign policy is very good. This policy that you have adopted, having relations with neighbors, is a very good policy. It should be followed up on. We should not have disputes with any of our neighbors. If there is a dispute, it should be turned into cooperation. This is something that is possible and it has been done to some extent. This should be continued.
And we should have relations with all the governments in the world that are interested in having relations with us, with one limited exception which is clear. We have relations with different continents, with South America, Africa, Asia, East Asia, everywhere. This policy of establishing numerous, diverse relations with various countries, with the characteristics that they have politically, climatically, economically, culturally, etc., is the correct thing to do.
Becoming a member of two important international alliances [BRICS and SCO] in a short space of time was a very good achievement, and it is not only beneficial for the country but it also shows a reality. Countries around the world do not do things without a reason. They don’t invite everyone to just come and join. They do this based on the calculations they have made, and they accept a government based on their calculations. These calculations are very important. This shows that Iran is in a position where the members and founders of these international alliances are interested in and sometimes even insistent on our beloved country’s membership in these [organizations].
Good things have also been done in the cultural sector, which of course should be increased both in quality and in quantity, and [good progress has also been made] in various other departments, the details of which you are already aware of.
My recommendation to you is that if there are things that the administration has done that can make people happy, then let them know about these things. There is a big gap between the actual realities and what people perceive as realities. What they perceive as facts is genuinely far from the reality of the situation. Try to reduce this gap. People should find out more about the realities. This requires work. It is not a simple task or an ordinary, smooth process. This kind of work needs to be thought through. It needs expertise, and it requires the help of experts.
Now, I would like to remind you of a few things. I have repeatedly said that the country’s main priorities are the economy and our culture. These are our top two priorities. As for the economy, our slogan had two parts this year. One is about controlling inflation and the other is about increasing production. Regarding controlling inflation, I stated in my speech at the beginning of the Iranian New Year that controlling inflation is also possible with a growth in production. In other words, the most important thing that can be done to control inflation is to raise and increase the country's production.
So, our focus should be on production. If the focus is on production and it needs to increase, we need to see how we can increase it. There are two things that we need to pay attention to about this. One is that we need to support production, and, two, we need to remove any obstacles that stand in the way of it. What do I mean by supporting it? The first thing is legal support. The regulations should allow production to be both easy and cost-effective for producers. There should also be financial support in the amount that is the responsibility of government agencies. Foreign currency and rial funds should be provided to the extent that is part of their duties.
There should also be cultural support for domestic production. Cultural support for domestic production means that we should help people understand domestic products should be consumed. In other words, wherever there is a domestic product, people should purchase that. This is the most important cultural support for production. Of course, in addition to this support, we need to be careful about this being misused. We’ve had periods when foreign currency and rial funds were given for production but were not used for production! And we are not talking about small amounts either, the sums were very large. Some cheating had taken place here. We must be careful so that this and other similar events are not repeated.
There are some who really know how to play around with economic issues. You sometimes see people who have more knowledge and awareness about the twists and turns [of the economy] than our senior officials in this department. They know the twists and turns, they know the loopholes, and they use these to make huge, illegal profits. There is nothing wrong with making a profit using legal means, but it is wrong to make a large, illegal profit. We need to watch out for these things. So when I say that production should be supported, we need to also be careful that this isn’t abused.
The next point is about the country’s commerce. Commerce should support production. Our foreign trade is not just for regulating the market. Market regulation is one part, but increasing production is another part. Commerce should help production. That is, in the concepts and interactions that apply in economics that exist in the world, the desired outcome is to send domestic products out and bring capital in [to the country]. Now, bringing capital in can be in the form of investments, or sometimes it can be in the form of the capital goods that we need. There is much machinery [that we might need].
The entire world is like this. There aren’t any countries in the world that produce all the things their country needs internally. They import some things from outside. Consider, for example, if we import capital goods and export the resulting products. If this happens — that is, if we do this in our economic interactions — production will naturally grow. This is the most important way to support production, and this is how commerce can support production.
Another point is that we must identify the country’s needs at the right time. Sometimes we don’t identify our needs when we should, and when it gets close to becoming critical, we panic and start to import from here and there. Naturally, this causes problems.
Domestic producers can provide our domestic needs in most of the areas required in the country. As [the President] mentioned, we were able to buy over ten million tons of wheat from domestic producers this year. That is approximately equal to the country’s consumption rate. Now, this cannot be stated very precisely, but the country’s wheat consumption rate is something close to this amount. This means we have no need to import wheat and have reached self-sufficiency in this area. This is very good. It is the same in all other areas. If other areas, such as in agriculture, industry, mining, and various services receive help and support, everything can be prepared domestically. However, this is provided that needs are recognized in time and when necessary.
Another important point is that in the Seventh [National Development] Plan, many tasks have been assigned to the government. God willing, planning should be carried out in such a way that all of these tasks can be accomplished. Nonetheless, there are a few important points that you should consider in carrying out this program. You need to keep these points in mind for every task that you perform and in every economic decision that you make.
For example, consider the issue of justice and reducing the gap between [economic] classes. This is a very important issue. In every economic decision that you make, look to see how it will affect the issue of reducing this gap. Will it have a positive or a negative effect? Analyze this. As for other examples, consider market stability, reducing inflation, stability in the exchange rate, and increase in production. These are all important points, and they are all quantitative — that is, they are measurable. They are not things that we cannot calculate. When you make decisions, consider the effect it will have on these indicators. Depending on the effect it has on the indicators, you should decide whether to do it or not. This is also very important.
Another issue, which is the last issue in this area, is the issue of people's livelihood. The issue of livelihood is very important. When there are problems in the area of people’s livelihood, such as high housing prices, high rent and such things, which definitely causes some people to feel desperate, all the good things you do become overshadowed by this. All the positive measures that are taken and all this effort remains unseen due to the problems in people's livelihood, and this is truly unfortunate! Work on this.
The sanctions that have been imposed are mainly targeting people’s livelihood. In other words, they want to hold people's livelihood for ransom. We need to work to neutralize the effect of sanctions. Well, of course, measures are being taken to terminate the sanctions and negotiations are taking place. This is good and it is the right thing to do, but, at the same time, there should be efforts made in parallel to these measures to neutralize the sanctions.
One of the most important indicators of having neutralized the sanctions is definitely a reduction in inflation. So, efforts should be made to reduce the rate of inflation. Now, it was stated that inflation has come down by a certain percentage rate. That’s good, but it is not enough. The two-digit inflation rate and this trend continuing over several consecutive years is completely inappropriate. You need to do something to reduce inflation as much as possible.
I have been told that there are some tasks that have a relatively quick effect in reducing inflation. This includes the completion of half-finished projects. We have too many half-finished projects. The experts have told us that if you finish these things, it will have a quick impact on reducing inflation. Or the issue of banking imbalances that you referred to is also like this.
These dealers and middlemen should also be dealt with. The fruits in an orchard that have been grown by a hardworking gardener have a certain price. When they are brought by a dealer to the place of consumption, sometimes the price increases tenfold or more! These problems should be solved in a way. It will help to greatly reduce inflation and help people's livelihood.
I would like to mention a couple of things regarding foreign interactions and international policies. Thank God, the administration is active in this area. It has accomplished some great things, which I have already spoken about. An important point is that opportunities exist in our relations with different countries. We need to recognize these opportunities and benefit from them at the right time. There are times when we have relations with a certain country, and we can benefit from these relations. However, these opportunities are ignored. This shouldn’t happen. Opportunities need to be recognized and benefited from.
Secondly, the agreements that are made, the cooperation agreements that are made and signed, should not remain something just on paper. The government has long-term cooperation agreements with some countries. So, where are they now? What has been the result of these? Don’t let these cooperation agreements and documents remain something that is merely on paper. This is important.
Another point to note is that when we speak of having interactions with the world, there are some political elements in the country that believe the world is made up of just several countries, mainly Western countries. That’s how they see the world! [According to these individuals], if we have warm, friendly relations with those countries, it is as though we have relations with all the world. If we reduce our relations with them, even by a small amount, it is as though we have no relations with the world. This is wrong. This view is a reactionary view. It belongs to 100 years ago when a few European countries controlled the world! Having relations with them meant having relations with the entire world. A century has passed since then, and this outdated, reactionary view needs to be put aside today.
Having relations with the world means having relations with Africa, South America, and Asia. These are places where an immense amount of human and natural resources exist. Western countries mostly became rich by putting pressure on African countries and other such countries. Europe has actually gained its wealth by stealing the wealth of African countries and some Asian countries. We must not neglect these countries, and we should have relations with them. Therefore, the criterion for international relations is our nation’s interests and honor. National honor is very important, and domination and submission should not exist in our relations. We are against both domination and submission.
I would like to mention a few more things. First, maintain your contact with the people. This is very valuable. It is very good to have close, friendly relations with people, to speak to them humbly in person, to interact with them, to go inside their houses, and to sit on their rugs. Don’t stop doing this. This is a good opportunity.
Second, continue communicating with the intellectual elites as much as you can. This is very valuable. The elites have opinions, they have plans, they give good recommendations and they come up with useful ideas. Be sure to communicate with these people. Different sections should pursue the elites and follow up on their ideas.
Another point is to have presence in the universities which is necessary. Be present among the students and professors, listen to what they have to say, and inform them of necessary matters. They are unaware of many things. Yes, they may be students, professors, intellectuals, and aware of certain things, but there are also many things that they are unaware of. They see some things during the Passengers of Progress tours [program that takes students to see first-hand the progress that has been made in the country] that have been set up. There are new and interesting things for all of them there. Many things have been accomplished in our country, but our students don’t know about them. They are surprised when they see these things — and so are the professors.
I once said that we need to set up a tour to show some people the country’s defense facilities. I would now like to add that such tours should be set up for all of the advancements that have been made in the country. Our elites should go see these things from up-close and be informed. This is something that helps greatly in confronting the enemy’s belligerence. One of the places of the enemy’s belligerence is in the universities and it has placed hopes in this. Your presence in the universities will neutralize that.
Another point and recommendation is to make the government’s use of media more effective, which I mentioned before as well. In my opinion, every action requires telling people about it in some way. Every important task that you wish to accomplish has to have a clear plan for telling people about it at the same time. For example, consider how you removed that preferred foreign currency exchange rate, which was a necessary action. This action should have been explained very clearly to the people. Why was this decision made? It was for such and such reasons. It has such and such benefits, and it prevents such and such losses. For every action that you take, there should be at the same time a clear plan for telling people about it.
Another recommendation is that there should be consistency in the words, promises, and statistics given by government officials. We should not see one organization giving one set of statistics and then another sector giving contradicting statistics the next day. Or, for example, if one official promises something, another official should not say that such a thing is impossible. Whether or not these actions are practical should be discussed in the government beforehand, and it should be determined there whether these promises should be made or not. Use collective wisdom, pay attention to your actions, think things through, and act wisely.
The final issue is an issue that the President also mentioned. Do not pay attention to propaganda and the insignificant issues that are raised. Focus on doing your job instead. Sometimes you make a decision and it is a correct decision, but some people start a turmoil because they do not approve of it. Now that there is the social media as well, they spread thousands of posts against your decision on social media. If your decision were well-thought-out and logical, don’t pay attention to them and do your job.
Sometimes they want to impose certain actions on the administration. Once again, we witness thousands of posts, messages, and letters being spread on social media in order to impose this on you. These are pressure groups, don’t pay attention to them. Make your decisions logically, think out your actions, and consider what you are doing. When you make a decision, “once you are resolved, put your trust in Allah” (Quran 3:159). Trust in God and take firm steps forward.
Once again, I want to remind you to follow things up and this is something I always emphasize. Do not leave tasks unfinished. Sometimes a person might start a task with much motivation, but after they have taken a few steps, they lose their motivation. That is not right. Maintain your motivation until, God willing, the job is finished and completed.
I hope that Almighty God will be pleased with you and grant you success. I hope that, God willing, the remaining period of your responsibility will be accompanied by even more successes that they will be accepted by God, and that they will please Hazrat Wali al-Asr [Imam Mahdi] (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). May the pure soul of Imam Khomeini and the pure souls of the martyrs be satisfied and pleased with you.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
